Biscotti Madness

Well it appears MotionBased is down right now. I couldn't upload the ride nor could I even log in. So it goes.

Fred - the solution was one of the old Pythons that I used with Hutch sealant (previously). I could not find a hole in this tire so I just mounted it as if it were perfectly fine. I scraped off the old stuff and used Stans, and with my trusty floor pump and 806 expletives, got it to hold air. This morning it was still holding air.

So Jake, we rolled at a bit after 7:00, and it wasn't hot, nor warm. I'd say just under 30 maybe. Not awful though. Since we immediately climbed that shook off the cold. The additional climbing got us close to warm. And the last bit of climbing provided room enough to sweat.

The tire did at some point burp some air, so I was probably running around 28 pounds most of the ride. It's not too low, just a pressure I'm not totally used to so felt a little squirmy on. In terms of it being beefy enough to handle Allamuchy, it was really no problem. I'll let Kirt comment on how well, or not well, I did on climbs and the rocks. He'd be more objective than I would. If I were a regular there I'd likely go with something a bit more, since there were a few rock faces that I spun out on. But overall it was fine. I should note I have a Toro on the front.

In general I can feel my bike handling getting better almost on a daily basis. I felt pretty good out there today, and the climbs that used to kill me are still tough, but less so. Technically I've never been bad, but now I'm getting more comfortable though I still think back kindly on the FS on some of those speedy downhills in this park.

In all I think we did 17 miles in 2.5 hours rolling which gets us an average of 6.8, though MB may say differently (it said 6.7). There were no easy miles in this loop, everything was earned, and fully enjoyed. The last time I did a big loop here I broke myself entirely, averaged 5.5 in the process.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention there was one flat today. But since I ride a 29er and Kirt rides a 26er, I really don't need to go into who got the flat, do I? 😀 Kirt also noted that I was at a distinct advantage having a 29er which pedals itself up the hills here. 😉

Major thanks to Kirt today and Scalpel6 yesterday for showing me parks I don't ordinarily go to. Both of these rides were fantastic, very happy with my week of riding so far.

Hey MB made it back up:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7962102
 
I love my bike.

Today was the 4th mountain bike ride in 6 days. A Tale of Two Parks:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7967334

Met up with Graveyardman in Boonton (pronounced "Birmingham") and hit Splitrock and then Tourne. In all 2.5+ of rolling, 23.5 miles, some of them on the road. Good ride, fun stuff, major thanks to Bill for showing me both parks.

These parks couldn't be more different. Splitrock is also called Wildcat I believe. It could easily be called Wild Rock. It's a vast, underridden, rocky place with an absolute colossal amount of potential. Having ridden Allamuchy yesterday, this place reminds me of what the Mooch may have been like 10-15 years ago. Lots of places to ride but not a lot of well groomed singletrack. We did hit JORBA Norm's work which was cool to ride.

The Tourne is so well groomed it looks like someone has carved each inch of trail with a spoon and toothbrush. We were running out of time so we only did a very little bit. It's a fast & fun place.

Felt good again today, 3rd off-road ride in a row. Feeling more comfortable on the mountain bike every day, today was no different. Oddly, the Python seemed to do better today that at Mooch yesterday. I say odd because there's a lot of loose stuff here. Maybe it was drier, I don't know.

We also saw a bird I've never seen before. I thought it was a blue jay at first, the way it was flying. But when it landed neither Bill nor I could figure what it was. Same general size, sort of slate-blue in color, maybe darker, maybe gray. I think it also had a white stripe on the back of its head or chest? If anyone knows birds I'm curious what that was.
 
Norm said:
Fred - the solution was one of the old Pythons that I used with Hutch sealant (previously). I could not find a hole in this tire so I just mounted it as if it were perfectly fine. I scraped off the old stuff and used Stans, and with my trusty floor pump and 806 expletives, got it to hold air. This morning it was still holding air.
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Truely a disapointment. Were there bears or snakes? Cmon!😀
 
ArmyOfNone said:
Truely a disapointment. Were there bears or snakes? Cmon!😀
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Nope, neither. No carnage yesterday, only the 2nd time in the last 6 mtb rides there was no carnage of some sort. Over those rides there have been 5 flats (me twice, Adam twice, Kirt), a chain/chainring mismatch (Woody), a seatpost slipping issue (Leo), and broken bars (Jeff). Group rides are fun but they sure do drive the economy. Obams should put together a group ride stimulus package. Oh shit, it just struck me that 29er flats outnumber 26er flats 4-to-1. Holy crap, other than Jeff's bars, it's all 29er mechanicals to a 7-to-1 ratio!

Today I'm resting. Just had breakfast (whole grain* toast, avocado, egg). At some point I could go into what I eat on a normal basis just to give an idea of what I'm putting into my body to support myself right now. OTOH, that may be TMI for anyone to care. But since I have the morning free and I'm tired and sitting on the couch...

* real whole grain. Most "wheat" breads are just fluff - empty calories.

Food I track what I eat daily. It may seem obsessive but if I don't my weight slowly creeps up. I have 4 basic "good" categories I try to fill out every day:

* Whole grains (3 servings)
* Nuts (2)
* Proteins (3)
* Fruits/Veggies (10)

My whole grains are my bread, oats, brown rice, and fiber-based or Kashi cereals. The 2 most healthy nuts are walnuts and almonds. Cashews are ok. Nothing else counts for me. Proteins are chicken, fish, bike foods, protein powder, beans, and tofu. Fruits/veggies are obvious. I also drink tea everyday, no milk/sugar. I occasionally eat plain yogurt too which doesn't really fit any of the categories. I use soymilk in my cereal.

When I fill out my "required" foods I then eat whatever I want, more or less. I often have chocolate, sometimes ice cream, and the occasional cookie. I'll eat hummus with crackers and almond/cashew butter. I never eat butter anymore because it's non-filling and high-calorie. We don't eat out a whole lot but when we do I just eat whatever I feel like it, but not a ton.

Yesterday I burned 4440 calories in theory, and ate 3911 for a deficit of 529 which is right where I want to be. For the week (day 5) I have a deficit of 2588, an average of 517 a day. They say you can get away with a 1000 calorie deficit but for me, my body goes haywire if I get much above 700. I'm currently at an average 7 day weight of 180.8 - 2 pounds higher than my lowest over the winter.

Tomorrow I hope to ride out to PA then eat an early Easter dinner. I have floated the idea past my wife and she didn't say anything either way. Failing that, I'll probably be on the road for 2 hours early then drive out together.

This Week I have no concrete plans this week. I need some rest because I've been riding a lot. We'll see what tomorrow looks like but at the very least I'll have something like 25 hours in the last 2 weeks, with much of that quality riding. So my legs and body are a bit tired right now. Still planning on the Fair Hill race next Sunday so maybe get some more rides in this week but not too many hours.
 
yeah, split rock has a TON of potential and a really, really wild place to ride. lots of fun especially with someone like bill that really knows the place. kinda helps he lives, uh, on it. but yeah, very much like 'mooch or as you put it, suspect mooch was years back.
 
Sounds like the bird you saw was a woodpecker. We have a few different types down here. That was one heck of a fun sounding block of rides you did last week. I'm bordering on insanity due to my recent lack of riding.
 
743power said:
Sounds like the bird you saw was a woodpecker. We have a few different types down here. That was one heck of a fun sounding block of rides you did last week. I'm bordering on insanity due to my recent lack of riding.
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Hmm, could be. It flew like a woodpecker, now that you mention it. More in a wave than a straight line. Sorta like "ok, falling, better flap, falling again, better flap." And it was bigger, so it may have been. I'll have to check out the NJ birds on Wikipedia again and see if I can find it.

So today...

Easter, reality check day. I'm in the car to PA so no MB link. Anyone who cares can click an old link and look at my digest. 10.1 mph average or something, soup to proverbail nuts.

Limited time today, wasn't able to swing the PA road ride for reasons that have little interest to people without kids, and maybe not even then. I will say 2 things. First, parenthood is an exercise in herding your children from 1 crisis to the next. Secondly...I have no idea what #2 was.

Lewis Morris. Having a park to ride so close is nice. But it's limited, and I always just ride the race course. This is idiotic, but what I did today anyway. 3 laps, warmup on the fly, and inadvertently compare it to the race time last year. 3 laps:

* 34 minutes
* 33 minutes
* 34 minutes

Last year I pulled 33 minute laps for the race. So you can look at it 2 ways. Either I'm not any faster than last year, or I'm already more or less in last year's race shape. I opt for the first. I was expecting to be able to do 33 minute laps today so today's numbers are disappointing. I was recently telling someone that I don't think I'll ever be much more than a sport racer. After 6 billion hours this winter and dropping 16 pounds, I'm not any faster. So it goes. I'm not going to linger on it. I do need to put together a different loop for this park to a) make it more interesting and b) not always race myself.

Didn't eat much on the bike or after. One bright side is that I don't remotely feel like I did a race, so fine, I guess I have that going for me, which is nice. I burned enough calories to rip up some ham this afternoon, which is what I'm going to do.

Race 1 week from today. I need some form of rest this week. But I don't much feel like it. Today was my 6th different park in 8 days. I've yet to hit 6MR, CR, nor MD in that span. Ringwood too. Then Fair Hill next Sunday. Let's see if I can get to 10 parks in 15 days. Even if I'm not any faster I'm having a damn fun time of it.

So how do I rest? Not sure. Just going to play it by ear (legs) and see how I feel. I'm not peaking for this race so it's just a ride with a number plate on. I'll try to keep the hours in single digits, unless I don't. Then I won't I guess.

Time for food. And beer, if my parents bought me any. Happy Easter!
 
Norm said:
Hmm, could be. It flew like a woodpecker, now that you mention it. More in a wave than a straight line. Sorta like "ok, falling, better flap, falling again, better flap." And it was bigger, so it may have been. I'll have to check out the NJ birds on Wikipedia again and see if I can find it.
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ya know what's funny, that's what popped into my head while riding today. a wood pecker. based on your description of it's flight pattern i'd say with about 90% certainty it was. there are a couple that fit the description but w/o my trusty bird book in front of me (sadly i only have a diet mt. dew) i can't look it up.
 
Well I check out the NJ birds on Wikipedia and the colors make this one tough to call a woodpecker. The thing is that most NJ woodpeckers have red on them in some way, most of which I know from seeing around where we live. These 2 are possible, but I don't think they work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Three-toed_Woodpecker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-backed_Woodpecker

The American Three Toed is just not solid enough in color. And the Black Backed could be it but the colors aren't solid enough. I need a book to peruse. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be in the "common eastern birds" book because I'm pretty familar with all of those.

Might need to spend some time in the local Audobon joint and see what they say.
 
Still can't figure it out. Looked at the bird book my step-father has - no luck.

I'm on a rampage lately. I keep looking out the back window of my parent's house thinking, "I really should build some trails up there."

This is the side of a hill that goes way, way up:

picture.php
 
Day off today. I finally broke and slept 10 hours last night. So I guess once in a while it does add up and crush me to a pulp. Have not felt totally with it at all today, which is entirely common for me when I finally break down and sleep a lot.

So taking stock, the following things are nagging me from riding a lot and/or crashing. Both ankles were sore, my back has been sore but is much better today, my left calf has a big scratch, left thumb has a missing bit of skin, left wrist and elbow were sore from yesterday, my left shoulder from the OTB at Allaire, and my left knee which has been on/off for a month+ now. So a low-key week is in order.

Tomorrow I was planning to go to Mahlon with Fogerson but it turns out I have some business to conduct down at the shop early. So I'll be going down then possibly grabbing a ride at 6MR or Sourlands or CR if I have the time. Might also look at Mahlon with Fogerson Wed or Thu.
 
The rain kept me from Six Mile today so my streak of off-road riding came to an end. Did some up tempo stuff around the swamp today:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7999895

Legs definitely not all there for the first half. In fact they were seriously lacking today. After about 40 minutes or so I warmed up solidly and brought the average up to over 19 until the end when I drifted home. All in all not a thrilling ride but I haven't done much of this tempo/threshold work this year so it's not terribly surprising to not have a lot of it. Also, I'm certainly tired from the last 2 weeks and a 4 hour night of sleep.

Going to take tomorrow off then try to ride off road (on mud) Thursday morning. Off Friday then hopefully a short spin at CR Saturday then the race at Fair Hill Sunday.

Picked up the One9 today and man that thing is light. Entertaining the idea of racing with it though I'm sure I'll come to my senses and take the Sir9. Someone said it might rain Sunday? Too early to tell I'd say.

Just another day at the box factory.
 
Rest day again today. 8 hours of sleep, felt good. At some point after lunch fell into a sloth-like state, the act of just walking up stairs made me feel like I was climbing Mount Washington. Odd that this often happens when I get a lot of sleep and don't ride at all. I guess this is what a rest week turns into but I feel like I'm a step away from kicking my feet up, busting out a six pack, and getting some McDonalds on.

I should also mention that I'm riding MD tomorrow morning with up to 3 actual humans.

I should also also mention that I seem to have caught a low-grade cold. Nothing amazing just my taste buds are all whacked out and I love to eat.
 
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My wife asked me if my low-grade cold is maybe allergies. Maybe. I've gotten them in the past but only mildly. And it is the season. It doesn't quite feel the same. My coffee did taste damn fine this morning though.

Anyway, a new park to the list, Mahlon this morning with Jake, Steve, and Tim:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8012669

Felt like ass the first 20 minutes or so, then started to feel much better. Opened up a bit after that and things just felt good all around. Feeling more in control on the bike with handling and all that. Climbing is pretty good, descending is getting better, and tempo stuff in between is a weak point right now. Well, it's only April.

We did the south side of the park and after we got back to the lot the other guys took off and I did the north side and south side again, at least the stuff I know. The second time on the Wall reroute was better, felt much more in control and flowed better. It's still breaking in so get out there and ride it!

Going to take tomorrow off in keeping with this rest week thing, though now I feel like ramping it back up again and riding. Saturday I'll head to Chimney Rock for an hour and change to get the legs moving. Then race on Sunday.
 
Chimney Rock today for 90 minutes of "day before race" ride:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8024508

Kept it light and easy, which was kinda boring and somewhat skittish on the rocks. I always feel like I have less control the slower I go. But I didn't want to go too hard today. Just climb the climbs and hang out and do my thing. In all a decent-to-good ride. Felt good at times, ok at others. Overall I'm as ready for tomorrow as I can reasonably expect. I don't know that the combination of the big field and short race is exactly my strength. But whatever, we'll see how it all shakes out.

Today was the 8th different park in 14 days with tomorrow a 9th park. Hoping to be able to keep this stretch going for a while. 7 of the last 9 rides have been off-road. Sweet!
 
ArmyOfNone said:
i have forgotten what the trails look like. 😀 should make things interesting for tomorrow.
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You did well enough. Fred took 2nd in his class, 8 seconds off the win.

I ended up 5th out of 41, and won my first bit of free schwag ever! Less than a minute off the top spot. So I guess from now on take Jake's assessment over my own when it comes to how I'm doing.

Adam also got a podium, 3rd in his class.

JDog, sporting the full kit, got 6th in SS, also winning free stuff he wasn't there to collect.

Maurice and Ellen were still going when we bolted. Ruth, Sherry, Mare, ChrisT, Mike, Ilya, and Forrest all there representing as well. Good turnout for the team, I think 13 in all.

Currently at a rest stop on the NJTpk. I'll talk about the race more later tonight or tomorrow. My early assessment is that I'm pretty darn happy with today's result.
 
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